Football Game Preview: Bryan Vikings vs. Shoemaker Wolves

The Bryan Vikings will venture away from home to square off against the Shoemaker Wolves at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Bryan is looking for their season's first victory.

Bryan is headed into the game out to prove that what happened against Harker Heights on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. The Vikings were outmatched by the Knights and fell 62-7. While losing is never fun, the Vikings can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 543rd, while the Knights are ranked 67th).

Meanwhile, while Shoemaker put up plenty of points on Friday, the same can't be said for Killeen. The Wolves breezed past the Kangaroos to the tune of 49-0. The matchup marked the Wolves' most dominant win of the season.

Shoemaker's win came from a few key players Bryan will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jamal Polite Jr, who picked up 165 receiving yards and a pair of scores. Jeremiah Maddox was in the mix as well, providing Shoemaker with one TD.

On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Shoemaker's defense and their four sacks. Tyler Armstrong was especially locked on to Killeen's QB and sacked him twice. Armstrong has been hot recently, having posted at least one sack the last three times he's played. Shoemaker received some extra help from Maddox, whose fumble return for a touchdown made for one of the most unforgettable moments.

Shoemaker's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 6-1. As for Bryan, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-6.

Bryan lost to Shoemaker on the road by a decisive 35-21 margin when the teams last played back in October of 2024. Can the Vikings avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.